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Friday, 24 February 2012

#DearValentine: La Belle Part 4

This is the final week of the Dear Valentine Blog Challenge, inspired by @timonysouler poet, writer and queen of Toxic Musing. A recap of the rules:

4 days, 4 stories, 300 words. Each with a different set of prompts. I've chosen for once to make my four stories a set of interlinked tales entitled La Belle sans âme . To get the full benefit, do read them in order. You can read the earlier installments here:

Cain’s car smelt of leather.
It was a hybrid, noiseless and sleek like its owner. “There’s a bag on the back seat – change,”
he said.

“But -“

“It’s a masquerade, K. Change.” He slid in the driver’s seat without looking
at her. Heat spilled into her cheeks at
his indifference. Time was when the
sight of her bare body would have affected him.
Now his black eyes – demon eyes – stared straight ahead at the dark
country road, the trees flashing by.

She changed. Clinging
silk spilled like blood over her body.
Red. He’d always liked her in
red. She looked up, met his eyes in the
mirror. She looked away first.

The fairground was fairyland. A thousand lanterns swung from abandoned
rollercoasters and rust streaked carousels.
In the sultry darkness, masked revellers danced. Masked but not
hidden. Karen could feel their thoughts,
the swollen tide of their emotions. All
but his. Cain was an absence in the
collective unconsciousness, a tear.
Demon-spawn. Thinking of him,
she didn’t feel the woman’s touch until it was too late.

“Karen.” The voice
was unfamiliar, but warm. Soothing as a
breeze. She swung around. A woman stood beside Cain, cloaked,
masked. La Belle? “You’ve been
looking for me.”

“I...” What to say to
a murderer? To a thief? To Psych-Corps most wanted? “Yes.
I need to take you in.”

“I had a soul once.”
Behind the mask, La Belle smiled.
Familiarity tugged at Karen.
Familiarity? “But then I had a
daughter and my daughter did not. Would you give
up a piece of your soul for someone you loved Karen?”